White Flag
by WickedLucy
Summary: Regina is sick and, as much as she hates it, she needs someone to take care of her. Who else other than Emma Swan would accept the challenge? Oneshot. SwanQueen.


_**Disclaimer: **Sadly, I don't own any of the characters, or anything else from Once Upon a Time, for that matter._

_**A/N: **I started writing this for a friend when she was feeling ill, to cheer her up, months__ ago, and today I found it and decided to finish and publish it. I hope you like it, and please leave a review to let me know what you think. And a special thank you to my beta for helping me stay awake until I finished it, for reading it, and for being sick that one time and getting me to write it in the first place! ^^_

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**White Flag**

"I told you, I'm fine!" Regina's tone didn't cover how annoyed she was as David and Emma helped her out of her car and into her house.

The Mayor looked anything but fine. Obviously, she looked gorgeous as always, that regal posture and attitude not leaving her even though she looked considerably paler and weaker than normal.

"I don't need to be carried, I am perfectly capable of walking by myself. I could've driven here, too, if you hadn't decided that I am suddenly unable to do that."

All that earned was a roll of eyes from Emma and a shake of David's head, combined with a somewhat amused smile. The woman was really something.

They ignored her, because truth was that anytime one of them accidentally loosened their grip on her, she stumbled and came too close to falling a couple of times. "Still, humour us," Emma replied, thinking of how ridiculous the whole situation was in the first place.

They got inside and helped Regina up the stairs to her bed. Once she was lying down, avoiding their gazes, she mumbled, "And by the way, don't think we are done. Our meeting is simply adjourned."

"Of course it is," Emma's voice was now more amused than irritated. "Do you want me to call anyone, to keep an eye on you?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I know this may be disappointing to you, dear, but I'm not dying," her smirk was there, that infuriating smirk which made it seem like she was superior to anyone near her.

Suddenly, David's phone buzzed and he smiled at the device. "I… I have to go, is that ok?"

"I never said it was ok for you to come here in the first place."

"Ooooookay, I'm gonna get you some pills," Emma pointed at Regina, a look that gave no room for argument, and made a disgusted face as if remembering the scene she had just witnessed less than an hour ago, "and maybe a bucket to keep next to your bed, you know, if you decide to… again…"

Regina simply gave her a look that made the blonde believe, for a second, she could actually be the Evil Queen that Henry talked about so much. She left the room right after David, leaving the woman by herself.

Regina sighed. She did feel miserable. _I will have a word with Granny about those runny scrambled eggs as soon as I am out of this bed. _But she was Regina Mills and she would be damned if anyone saw her moaning about it like some pathetic princess. It also didn't help that the only people who actually bothered to help her happened to be two of the most unnerving inhabitants of Storybrooke.

"Do you really think she will be ok?" David looked from the bedroom door to Emma and then back to his phone. "I mean, I can…"

He was interrupted by the sound of retching coming from the room upstairs. It was Emma's turn to sigh. "I'll stay," she said, "the Sheriff's office is a bore today anyway. You go and do your thing and I'll keep an eye on her for now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, at the state she's in right now, the worst she can do is yell me out of here. Even though it doesn't look like she would be able to even do that right now."

"Ok," he seemed convinced, "Call me if you need anything, ok?"

With that and a quick goodbye, he was out the door.

Emma walked through the living room, hesitating to go back into the bedroom, not only because she knew Regina would not be happy to see her there, but because she really did not want to go near that bucket anytime soon.

Walking to the kitchen, the Sheriff decided to kill some time by looking through the shelves to see if she found any medication. She did find some pills eventually, but not before getting some tea, a few crackers and a glass of water and placing them on a tray. It did feel a bit ridiculous to be doing that for someone who hated her, but then again, she _was _Henry's mom, and Emma did not want the boy to come back from school to see the Mayor in that state.

Carefully, the blonde made her way back into the bedroom, trying to prepare herself for the abuse she was sure going to get from the sick woman. But she wasn't in her bed. Placing the tray carefully by the bedside table, Emma went closer to the bucket and ventured a look inside.

"Please, dear," she almost jumped at the voice coming from the now open bathroom door, "you don't really think I would just turn to my side and throw up right next to my bed. Maybe that's the way you did it when you were having your big adventures all over the country, but some of us are civilized enough to actually use the toil…" she stopped talking and closed her eyes. Emma noticed how she seemed to lose her balance and immediately ran to the woman's side, helping her keep steady enough to walk back to bed.

"I've had _adventures_ enough to know that getting up is not the best idea when you're feeling like this," once the woman was back, she pointed to the tray, unsure, "I thought… I thought you could use some water, or tea, you know, to help get the taste off… and… uhmm… crackers are always good for an upset stomach, because you need to eat something otherwise you will be too weak and feel even worse, so…"

She finished with a quick shrug and could feel Regina's eyes on her, examining her, trying to read her. There were no smart remarks, no sarcastic comments. She figured the woman was too tired for those. So the Mayor sat herself up in bed and, with a shaky hand, reached for the pot of tea. Noticing the difficulty in pouring it with such unsteady movements, Emma slowly moved to take the pot gently from the woman's hand, "Here, let me," and she poured the drink herself and placed the cup and saucer in Regina's hands.

The brunette barely noticed it, now too focused on the one in front of her. "Why are you doing this?"

There was always a motive. Over the years, she had learned that much. People expected things from her when they were nice. Either forgiveness, or mercy, or respect. She could not imagine that the Sheriff needed any of those. Well, there was Henry, but she had already allowed them to spend some time together, on her terms, of course. Not to mention that the fact she had stayed was a bigger risk than just leaving when she was told to. It intrigued Regina, and Emma could see that. In fact, it intrigued the blonde, too.

She opted on a shrug, and finally spoke, "Because whatever it is that you did to make everyone else in this town so scared of you, well, it didn't work on me so far. So they might be scared enough to go away when you tell them to, even when you clearly need some help, but I'm not. Trust me, there are worse things than having someone taking care of you," Emma mumbled the last part, not entirely sure what possessed her to say it in the first place.

When Regina tried to set the tea back on the table, Emma reached out and took it back herself, without a word.

"Could you…" Regina started, taking a deep breath, "Could you please hand me some of those crackers?"

With a smile and a quick nod, Emma took the plate of biscuits and placed them in Regina's lap, observing curiously as the woman carefully took a bite, chewing about a billion times before swallowing. She did not have to ask for the glass of water. It was already in front of her by the time she opened her mouth to speak.

"I was thinking of… of asking Mary Margaret to take Henry to our place after school for a few hours, if you're ok with that? I mean, so that you can rest a bit more," seeing an eyebrow raising on the face of the woman in front of her, she quickly spoke again, "or I can go and pick him up myself, and bring him straight home if you prefer."

"No," she replied at once, "I don't want him to see me like this," her voice was different, almost unguarded now.

Emma nodded, and turned to look for a place to sit. Not finding anywhere, she looked hesitantly at the bed and bit her lips before pointing at the very end, "Can I?"

Regina didn't seem excited about the idea, but she didn't refuse it either, so Emma sat by the edge of the bed, as far away from the Mayor as possible. She then grabbed her phone and started texting.

She knew she was being watched closely, she could almost feel Regina's eyes on her, and she wondered, despite herself, how the woman could still have that look, that poise, like she was still in charge of everything, even when she was lying sick in bed. She also wondered how she could still look so beautiful, but she quickly pushed that thought aside and classified it as temporary insanity.

"All done," Emma put her phone back in her pocket after a few minutes. "She will stay with him and bring him home whenever you're feeling a bit better."

"Thank you."

Emma's head snapped back to look at the brunette, just to make sure the words had really come out of her mouth, but the woman was avoiding her gaze as if it could kill her.

"Even though you are clearly neglecting your duties at the Sheriff's office while you do this," she couldn't help adding, but Emma was pleasantly surprised to see a smirk on the Mayor's face. She wondered how many people had been able to see Regina like this. With her walls lowered a little bit. And then she wondered if she ever let her walls down completely, to anyone. She didn't push _this_ thought aside, it intrigued her more than she cared to admit.

"Work was really boring today, anyway," she shrugged, a small smile appearing on her lips, "well, until you showed up demanding a meeting."

"Apparently, if I don't keep you occupied, you will just sit on that chair with your cup of coffee all day, pretending to look at the paperwork."

"Believe me, Madam Mayor, you do enough to keep me occupied for the whole week, so next time you don't have to go and get food poisoning just so that I'll have something to do. Even though I appreciate the sentiment," Emma grinned.

"You are worse than Henry sometimes, Sheriff Swan," she reached back for the tea, her hands a lot more steady this time, and took a few sips.

"How are you feeling?"

"I think the tea is helping," she said, taking another small sip, "If you're really bored, you should investigate where Granny is getting the eggs for her diner, and avoid having breakfast there for a while."

Emma's grin broadened and Regina's eyebrows raised once more. "Is it just me or did you express concern over my well-being?"

"Don't flatter yourself, I just don't want to be stuck taking care of _you_ should you fall victim to Granny's cooking, too."

"You would?" It was Emma's turn to look surprised.

"I don't like being in debt," Emma knew that was the closest of an answer that she would get, and she was alright with it. That annoying little part of her brain that had called Regina beautiful not too long ago was now tempting her to run to the diner and get herself some breakfast without wasting any time.

_Well, this is new,_ she thought to herself.

Suddenly, Regina motioned to get up again, and Emma was instantly by her side, helping her stand. She seemed stronger than before, but still could use the help. She reached the bathroom, but this time Emma was there to hold her hair back as she fell sick once more. It wasn't as bad as the last time, so she was definitely starting to recover a bit. When she sat on the cold floor, sweat dripping through her forehead, Emma quickly grabbed a towel and brought closer to the woman's face, gently wiping it away.

"I'm ok," Regina's voice did sound much stronger now, so Emma slowly stood up and offered her hand, which, to her surprise, the woman took. With one strong pull, she was back on her feet.

It wasn't as hard to walk back to her bed this time, and she barely needed Emma's help, even though she didn't refuse it. Little by little, she could feel the nausea getting weaker. It was still there and still bothered her, but in about an hour she did not find the need to make any runs to the bathroom anymore, and she found she could actually keep the crackers down.

Neither woman noticed how much time had passed until Emma felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. _Emma, is everything ok with Regina? It's just cause it's been a few hours and Henry is starting to get worried._

"Shit!" Emma muttered on instinct.

"Language!" Regina replied, also more on instinct than anything else. Then she gave an amused laugh as she remembered she wasn't dealing with a child. Well – she stopped and took a look at the blonde, who now typed furiously on the phone, still cursing under her breath – not technically, anyway.

"Henry's been asking about you, do you think it's ok for Mary Margaret to bring him now?"

"Of course she can, but I hardly see a reason to worry, I mean, it's only been a couple of…" she looked at the clock on the opposite wall and was sure she was imagining it, "Three hours? How is that even possible?"

"I guess I'm not that bad of a company after all," Emma shrugged as she texted her roommate to bring the boy, before turning her attention back to Regina. She got closer to the bed and took the now empty glass of water, refilling it before placing it back on its place. Then she crossed her arms and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. "Do you need anything else?"

She didn't want to ask Emma that. She wasn't sure why she had even considered it in the first place, but the woman did seem to be honestly just trying to help her, even though she had no reason to. So Regina swallowed her pride and, for once, made an effort to be someone else other than the Evil Queen Henry was so sure she was. "There is one thing you could do…"

"Sure, what is it?"

"When Henry gets here, could you put him to bed? I don't have much strength right now, and I don't want to have to run to the bathroom while I'm kissing him goodnight." It wasn't a lie, even though she wasn't feeling that bad anymore. But, looking at Emma's expression, Regina knew she understood the true meaning of the request. A white flag, a truce. She was giving her something, and they both knew how hard it was for Regina to loosen her grip on her son.

By the time Henry and Mary Margaret got to the house, Emma was downstairs preparing some more tea while she drank a cup of coffee herself. Henry went upstairs to see Regina and the teacher stood behind to talk to the blonde.

"How is she?" the short haired brunette asked, her head signalling up the stairs.

"You know how she usually is when she's healthy… well, try multiplying that by a hundred and you might have an idea of how she is when she's sick." Despite her words, Emma did not seem bothered or even upset to have spent almost the entire afternoon there. In fact, she seemed perfectly at ease.

"Well, do you need a ride home?" Mary Margaret took her keys and jacket, but Emma stopped her.

"Actually…" she bit her lip, and gathered the tea and a cup on the tray she had placed on the table, "I just need to check that everything is fine, and put Henry to bed, is that ok? Do you mind waiting a few more minutes?"

When her roommate assured her it was fine, she took the tray up the stairs. She walked slowly inside the bedroom, not wanting to interrupt the moment between mother and son, but knowing it was getting late. Gently placing the tray on the nightstand, she put her hands on Henry's shoulder. "Your mom needs to rest now, kid. She'll be all good tomorrow, ok?"

The boy nodded and, after a quick good night to Regina, followed Emma outside and to his room. It wasn't long until the blonde was back, by herself now. "He's just taking a shower. Then I'll put him to bed and I'll go. I got you some more tea if you want it," she shifted on her feet, not entirely sure how to act around the woman now, "Do you need anything else?"

"You said it yourself, Miss Swan, I need to rest. So I would appreciate if you would let me," she did want to sound annoyed, but they both knew the snide remarks were spoken more out of habit than anything else.

Emma rolled her eyes and laughed. "Right. Rest so you'll be ready to terrorize the town again tomorrow," her tone was nothing but playful. "Take care of yourself, ok?" She was out the door before Regina could decide if she wanted to reply or not.

xxxxx

The next day, Emma was not sure what to expect if she ran into Regina. She went to Granny's, although, slightly worried about ordering food after the previous day, she only had a big cup of coffee before heading straight to the station. It was a quiet morning, not unlike any other one in town, until her phone rang. It was from the Mayor's office.

"Good morning, Miss Swan," Regina spoke with her best politician voice, "I am just calling regarding our last meeting. I am scheduling to continue it tomorrow at 10, if that is alright."

"Regina, you sure sound better. And I am great, thanks for asking," Emma sounded only slightly annoyed.

"I don't know what gave you the impression that this is a social call, but yes, I am indeed better. And I found no sign of anyone else getting sick yesterday, but you should really consider investigating that establishment, especially if you insist on taking my son there for ice cream when he thinks I don't notice he's missing. Now can I confirm the meeting?"

"Did you wake up in the wrong side of the bed today? Geez. And I'm the one who didn't have any breakfast because I believed your stupid assumption that Granny's was selling bad food."

"Miss Swan," Regina's patience was wearing thin, and she had no problem showing it.

"Fine! 10am tomorrow, I'll call David and let him know," Emma put her hand up as if the Mayor could actually see her.

"That would be good, thank you."

"Yeah, _that_ you are thankful for," Emma mumbled, and, suddenly remembering the woman could still hear her, quickly added, "I will see you tomorrow, Regina."

Not even an hour passed by when the door to the station opened. Emma was actually a bit busier trying to organize some of the paperwork, so she didn't look up until a brown bag was half placed, half thrown on her desk. Startled, she looked up to see no one but Madam Mayor herself glancing down.

"Regina?" she looked at the woman, confusion evident in her face, and then, as the amazing smell hit her, she smiled, "Did you bring me food?"

"Well, I can't have you going around saying that it's my fault you haven't eaten anything, now, can I?" the brunette looked at the bag once more, "Although, I can't imagine how someone would consider _this_ to be food."

Emma reached to open it and, as soon as she did, the smell was even better than she imagined, probably because she hadn't eaten in so long. She noticed Regina making a face. "It's from Granny's, isn't it?" Emma asked, looking inside to see a small mix of her favourite dishes from the place.

"I had to take a little bit of each, that way I could get samples to have it tested," Regina spoke in all her seriousness, but Emma noticed there weren't any bits or pieces missing from any of the food. Plus, the bag only contained Emma's favourites, which had nothing to do with the infamous scrambled eggs Regina claimed to have had the previous day.

"Sure you had," she grinned, already taking a bite and ignoring the look on Regina's face that silently reprimanded her, saying she had no manners whatsoever. "Oh, I'm sorry, you see, I spent all afternoon yesterday taking care of this citizen who would not stop throwing up, so I didn't have the chance to eat much, and then this morning I kind of lost my appetite, so…" she shrugged, happily taking another big bite.

"Well, Sheriff, I am sure that _citizen_ is quite thankful for your help yesterday," she stopped herself, their eyes locking and the tiniest hint of a smile appearing on her lips, "Enjoy your food, Ms Swan." She gave a small nod and turned to leave, but stopped and turned back to Emma, who looked at her in a mixture of awe and shock. "Henry really appreciated having you there yesterday."

"I… well, taking care of Henry is not that bad," Emma smiled knowingly.

Regina reciprocated for a second, before pointing to the food. "Do be careful with that. With the things you eat, it's a surprise you weren't the one feeling sick all day."

"And here you are again worried about my well-being."

"Don't flatter yourself, dear. I simply don't want to have to reschedule that meeting for a second time," Regina gave her perfect smile and opened the door. "I will see you tomorrow, Emma." She spoke, almost carefully, before leaving.

"Yeah," the blonde muttered, her smile mirroring the one she had just seen on the other woman, and whispered to herself. "See you tomorrow, Regina."


End file.
